A buyer’s pre-dinner surprise highlighted online speculation about the brand’s manufacturing and packaging products. As one TikTok creator opened packages of Land O’ Lakes butter, the shopper was faced with sticks of butter wrapped in Walmart’s Great Value brand labels. On TikTok, several buyers are convinced that the butter is actually the same and that the brands and packaging simply drive the price differences. “I’m sure Land ‘O Lakes makes Great Value butter and mixed the wrappers on line,” TikTokker wrote. “The amount of people who don’t know everything comes from the same factories is INSANE,” added another. One commenter on Facebook recalled that he was informed by a worker that the machines would be stopped so that the labels could be reversed and the packaging could continue.
Walmart customers appreciate the price point of Great Value products. “Everything is made by some other company and just tick the option of Great Value Sam, etc.,” wrote a Redditor. “Never had a problem with Great Value honestly. Especially given the fact that most, if not all Great Value products are made and packaged by their name brand counterparts.” Sara Lee has been linked to Great Value White Bread, and Peter Pan has been associated with Great Value Peanut Butter, for example, but it may take some detective work to determine concrete answers.
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The challenge of decoding labels
butter displayed in a Walmart store – refrain/Shutterstock
On Quora, industry insiders revealed that milk production can vary from region to region and which suppliers are available. “Two companies I know for sure on the East Coast are Land ‘O Lakes and Blue Bonnet,” the user revealed before adding that brand names are changed on packaging labels during manufacturing processes. “Great Value is Walmart’s private label brand; the butter sold under the Great Value name is produced for Walmart by multiple co-packers rather than a single manufacturer,” the user explained. One Facebooker explained that Walmart contracts brands to package Great Value products. “Land ‘O Lakes and Great Value are the exact same butter, made in the same factory on the same line, they just switch labels and packaging,” added another. “I worked at a name brand place that also made a generic product. But we were stopping to change the labels, while the machine operator changed the recipe,” chimed in TikTokker.
To find details about a specific manufacturer on a package, the names of the makers and co-packers are often listed somewhere near the ingredient and nutrition profile. Product codes can also indicate information about particular facilities. In addition, customer service departments can provide supplier information corresponding to registered codes. Since Walmart’s supplier network changes, however, the information can only refer to specific product codes and dates, making general statements difficult to provide — and contributing to the rumors that continue to circulate online.
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Read the original article about the Tasting Table.